


A Chance

by Aceofstars16



Category: Star Wars: A New Dawn - John Jackson Miller, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-24
Updated: 2016-11-24
Packaged: 2018-09-01 21:24:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8638621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aceofstars16/pseuds/Aceofstars16
Summary: Set not long after "A New Dawn" this fic follows Hera and Kanan during a string of bad luck in recruiting new members for the rebellion. During this time, Hera starts realizing how much she had come to care for Kanan, despite the mysteries he still hides.





	

The engines pulsed and the Ghost shot into hyperspace. As the blue light filled the cockpit, Hera sighed and leaned back, letting out a frustrated sigh. This was the third recruiting mission that had gone south. Not only had the possible recruit balked at the mention of a rebellion, but the Empire had been alerted shortly after, which resulted in a hasty getaway. Thankfully Chopper was always ready to go, and Kanan seemed used to leaving in a hurry, so it hadn’t been much trouble. But it was discouraging. The idea of building up a larger rebellion seemed silly with the lack of support recently. Yes, Hera knew she should simply be patient. That things were bound to get better. But part of her was worried that maybe the rebellion had already reached its peak - that it was going to fail before it even had a chance to truly start.

“Phew! That was one heck of an escape!”

Hera was jolted out of her thoughts when Kanan walked into the cockpit, a grin lighting up his face. He had been on the top gun to help clear a way into hyperspace. It had been close, and without him they might not have made it, but at the moment Hera couldn’t get caught up in the excitement. “Yup, some getaway.”

Kanan’s smile disappeared and he slid into the copilot seat. “My shooting wasn’t that bad, was it?”

Releasing a breath Hera shook her head. “No, you did fine. It’s just these missions.”

“You mean all of the hasty retreats?” He asked, cocking his head to the side in a slightly annoying, slightly endearing way.

“Yes, and no. It’s the lack of interest from possible recruits and the constant alerting of the Empire.” She knew he wasn’t in this business for the rebellion aspect. He was just her crew, along for the ride. Plus, he got a cut of whatever profits she managed to make. But even though she knew he wasn’t invested in the rebellion, she wasn’t going to try to hide it from him. He had known the gist of what she was doing. If he hadn’t been okay with listening to her talk about it, then he wouldn’t have joined. Well, maybe that wasn’t true. She knew there were other motives behind him joining. But her recruiting was part of the package, if he couldn’t stand it then he couldn’t stay.

However, he didn’t seem to mind her bringing it up. “You’ll get some recruits soon. Dry spells don’t last forever,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders.

Hera pressed her lips together to keep from smiling. His carefree spirit was so different than what she was used to. Though it was only one piece of him. He was a puzzle she still didn’t quite understand. Sometimes he seemed only to care about himself, but then he would go and do something heroic, sometimes his actions were stupidly heroic, but they were heroic nonetheless. As she thought about it, however, she started realizing she had seen more of the heroic side of him over the past few weeks. Not that he wasn’t still cocky and flirty, she wasn’t sure if he would ever completely get over those traits, but he was changing. It was almost as if he was at war with himself, as if he was struggling with what the right course of action was. And maybe he was. She didn’t know his story, but she knew there had to be one. A Jedi who was alive, but who didn’t seem to act much like a Jedi anymore.

“How about we take a break from the recruiting? We could go somewhere nice and relax.”

His deep voice broke Hera out of her musings. There was that carefree nature again. A vacation, it was a nice idea, but not a realistic one. Not for her at least. “No, we don’t have the time or credits to relax. But we do have a break from recruiting. Our next job is getting info, and supplies.” She had gotten the comm before the last recruiting mission, it was a fairly simple job. Or at least it should be.

“Sounds fun. Do we get the intel or the supplies first?” Kanan asked, resting his hands behind his head.

“Both. I’m getting the intel. You’re getting the supplies,” she said, then looked at him pointedly. “And you better get only the things on the list. Unless you want the credits to come out of your pay.”

A smirk played on his face but he nodded. “Understood. How long until we get there?”

“It’ll be at least another hour,” Hera said, barely having to glance at the control panel to confirm her estimation.

“In that case, I’m going to get something to eat.” He stood up and started walking back towards the living area but paused and looked back at her. “You want anything?”

Hera started shaking her head, but stopped. When she was worried, she tended not to take notice of her bodily needs. Only when he mentioned food did she realize she was hungry. “I’ll take a meal bar,” she said, not wanting to eat anything too heavy. Plus, she knew they were running low on food.

“Ugh, those things shouldn’t even be called food,” he said before walking out of the room. A few moments later he walked back in with two meal bars in his hand.

“I sure hope food is on the supply list, meal bars are the only thing we have left…” Kanan made a gagging noise and Hera couldn’t help but laugh at the exaggeration.

“Don’t worry, food is the main thing on the list,” she said as she accepted the offered bar and took a bite.

“Good, because one of these is enough to make you hate them for the rest of your life.” Even after he spoke, he took a bite, but he made a face as he chewed.

Hera rolled her eyes but didn’t comment. She knew meal bars weren’t the most ideal food, but it was food and some food was better than none. She had come to learn that the hard way on Ryloth.

 

\----------

 

An hour later Hera expertly landed the Ghost and then gave Kanan the list of supplies.

“When you get everything, come back right away. I don’t know how this meeting will go, so we need to be ready for a quick getaway, just in case.”

“Aye Aye, Captain,” Kanan said, giving her a salute. She couldn’t tell if it was meant to be mocking or not, but she couldn’t help but roll her eyes at him.

Once she saw him on his way, she made sure Chopper locked down the Ghost before making her way to the meetup point.

The designated meeting spot was a small diner. It was fairly crowded, which made it a good place not to draw a lot of attention to oneself. Sitting down at one of the few available booths, Hera ordered a caf and waited. Her informant should be there soon. However, she didn’t have a description, only a code word, so she simply had to wait. She tapped her fingers on the table self-consciously, trying to keep her nerves in check. In the past, this wouldn’t have been a big deal. Intel wasn’t the most dangerous thing. But after her run of bad luck, anything seemed riskier than usual.

Her worry was unwarranted however. The informant came, had a cup of caf as well, and discretely gave her a chip with the intel on it. As a bonus, he also told of her of a possible band of rebels in a town not too far away. Overall it was a very beneficial meeting and everything went smoothly. That is until Hera reached the Ghost.

It looked fine from what she could see, but when Chopper let her in, Kanan wasn’t anywhere to be found. She tried calling out to him but there was no answer, the same held true when she commed him. After hanging up a third time, Hera couldn’t keep her worry at bay. It had been slowly building but, but now it was tightening around her stomach. The supply run shouldn’t have taken this long, he must have run into some sort of trouble. Hera told herself to wait. It would be unproductive to rush off again, especially since she didn’t know exactly where he would be. But her worry wouldn’t be calmed and she knew she couldn’t stay put any longer.

“Chopper, comm me if Kanan shows up. I’m going to see if I can find him,” she said as she walked down the ramp of the Ghost.

Chopper complained as usual – he wasn’t very fond of Kanan, but Hera knew he would keep her updated. He was a reliable droid when it counted and he was usually better at listening to her, at least compared to anyone else that tried to give him orders.

As Hera walked through town, she kept her eyes open for Kanan, checking the stores he would’ve had to visit to get the supplies. But he wasn’t in any of them. Worry continued to build in her chest as she walked into the last store. A hearty laugh caught her attention, and she quickly looked over to see Kanan and a store clerk. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, they were just talking.

Relief washed over her, but it was quickly replaced by annoyance. Stomping over to the counter, she leaned against it and cleared her throat.

Kanan looked over and his eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Hera, what are you doing here?”

“You were supposed to get supplies and come right back,” she said, not even trying to hide the anger in her voice.

“I was just getting the last few things here. In fact, I was just about to head back,” he said casually, as if it was no big deal. As if she hadn’t been worried about him for the past thirty minutes.

“Sure, right after you chat with the locals. What if I needed to leave right away? I would’ve had to leave without you. Did you happen to think about that?” She asked, trying not to let her anger get away with her. Though that was easier said than done.

“I’m sorry, but Kelter here had info about some possible…friends nearby and I thought it might be useful to your cause.”

Hera sighed, he was being genuine in his intent. She knew she shouldn’t blow it out of proportion. Her meeting had gone well and he had only been trying to help. But the worry that she had felt still lingered in the back of her mind. She had been so worried…maybe a little more than would be normal for a crew member. No, it was natural feeling. He was a flesh and blood companion, she just didn’t want to lose him because of that. At least that’s what she told herself. “Fine, but next time I give you an order you follow it. Or at least let me know what’s going on. Speaking of which, why didn’t you answer the comms I sent you?”

“I didn’t get any comms,” Kanan said, tilting his head slightly. He grabbed his commlink and clicked it. Nothing sounded. He clicked it a few more times but it didn’t send out any signals or sounds. “I guess it broke…”

Hera rubbed her hand over her eyes. “Just get the supplies and lets head back to the ship.”

Kanan wordlessly obeyed and they walked back in silence. Only when they reached the Ghost did Kanan speak up again. “Do you want the information I got?”

“I’m guessing it’s the same as what I learned from my informant. A band of rebels in the foothills, right?” Hera didn’t want to stay mad at him, but she couldn’t force herself to look at him yet. Despite knowing he was okay, the worry that had encompassed her still hung at the back of her mind. She shouldn’t have been so worried…and yet she had been.

“Oh, yeah that’s the same info. Sorry then, guess I’m not as helpful as I thought.” Disappointment layered his voice and Hera couldn’t help but look at him. He had genuinely been trying to help, and he hadn’t meant to upset her.

Taking a deep breath, Hera pushed aside any confusion she had with her own emotions. Placing a hand on his arm and gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “It’s okay, really. Now let’s get this loaded up so we can go check out this lead.”

Kanan glanced at her and he grinned. “Yes ma’am.” Normally this would annoy Hera, but she could still see the guilt in his eyes. It was then that she realized that sometimes his smile hid pain. Pain from a past that she may never know about.

It was a short flight to the foothills, and the only sound besides the ship was Chopper, who beeped annoyances at Kanan. But Hera zoned him out. Her thoughts here focused on Kanan, and how much of a mystery he still was to her. She didn’t know how he had survived the war or how he had ended up on Gorse. At least she did understand why he wanted to keep being a Jedi a secret. All the Jedi were supposed to be dead. If he told anyone it could be the end of him. That brought her to another thought. He had saved her; she knew his secret and he trusted her with it. Or at least she assumed he did. Pushing the thought aside, Hera focused on flying. She could puzzle over Kanan more later. Right now, she needed to form a plan for talking to these supposed rebels.

 

\----------

 

Once again, everything had gone wrong. The rebels had lived in the foothills at one point, but they were long gone now. The Empire had found them, and now Stormtroopers were surveying the area. They had spotted Hera and Kanan right away and talking hadn’t helped any. No one was supposed to stray from the towns, so they were technically in a restricted area. This, of course, warranted questioning. Neither Hera or Kanan wanted that, so they had no choice but to run. Which resulted in a lot of blaster fire.

“It’s a good thing Stormtroopers are such bad shots, it makes getting away easier,” Kanan said as they ran, a cocky grin lighting up his face.

Hera rolled her eyes, but she silently agreed. With all of the run-ins they’d had with the Empire, it was very fortunate that their soldiers weren’t very good shots. But that didn’t mean they didn’t get in a lucky shot now and again.

Pain shot through Hera’s arm as one such lucky shot hit her arm. A yelp of pain escaped her mouth and she grabbed her arm, hoping to suppress any bleeding.

“Hera!” Kanan called out in worry as he slowed down to match strides with her.

“I’m fine,” Hera said, even though her arm was starting to feel numb.

Kanan nodded, but his eyes were narrowed and he pulled out his own blaster and sent a few shots at the Stormtroopers as they ran.  
A few grunts sounded as he fired, but Hera didn’t look back to see if he had done any real damage. The Ghost was just at the bottom of the hill, and if they were going to get out of this mess she needed to focus on boarding the ship and getting to the controls – not focusing on what was happening behind them.

Hera released her injured arm and was surprised when she didn’t see any blood. Pushing the thought aside, she grabbed her comm link with her good arm and held it up to her mouth. “Chopper, open up. We need a quick escape.”

Chopper bleeped some complaints, but the ramp opened and soon Hera was on board, followed closely by Kanan.

“Chopper, get the ship ready to take off, I’ll be up in a second,” Hera said as she reached the ladder leading to the cockpit. The pain in her arm doubled as she tried to use it to pull herself up. Cursing under her breath, Hera, bit her lip and forced herself to climb, despite the pain.

By the time she reached the cockpit, her arm was throbbing. But she didn’t have time to give it a rest. Stumbling into the pilot seat, Hera once again bit her lip to fight the pain as her hands flew across the controls. She could do it all with one hand, but it would’ve taken more time, and they didn’t have much time as it was. As the ship lifted off the ground, Hera saw tie fighters closing in fast.

“Kanan, there are ties incoming. I’m going to need some cover if we are going to get out of here,” Hera said, gritting her teeth in a continued attempt to ignore the pain in her arm.

“I’m on it!” Kanan replied through the comms.

A second later, the top gun started firing, and as one of the ties exploded, Hera smiled. As much as Kanan confused her at times, there was no denying he was an invaluable member of the crew now.

With Hera’s piloting skills, and Kanan’s cover fire, soon they were in hyperspace. Yet another narrow escape from the Empire. But it was an escape nonetheless.

A sigh escaped Hera’s mouth, and as she leaned back, she let herself take a good look at her arm. It was burned pretty bad, and though it hurt, Hera was glad it wasn’t bleeding. That would’ve resulted in a whole other mess to clean up. Instead she simply had to worry about patching up her arm. After making sure the Ghost was on autopilot, Hera got up and headed towards the small medbay.

Upon arriving however, she found it increasingly difficult to try to clean her wound, even after she had cut off the sleeve of her jacket. Not only was it hard to see the wound completely, but every time she tried to clean it, pain would shoot through her arm.

“Need a hand?”

Hera looked up and saw Kanan standing in the doorway, his brow furrowed in worry. Looking at her arm again, Hera sighed then held out the cleaning cloth. Part of her wanted to do it herself. She had managed on her own until now after all. But the other part of her knew that it would be easier if Kanan did it. He could see the wound fully and he wouldn’t pull back every time another wave of pain shot through it. Besides, she trusted him to shoot down ties, if she could trust him with that, she could trust him with this.

Kanan grabbed the cloth, and sat down next to her. Then he proceeded to carefully clean the burn. Each time he swiped at it, pain shot through Hera’s arm, but she bit her lip to keep quiet, knowing the faster he cleaned it, the better. However, as he cleaned her arm, she was aware of how careful he was being. He was obviously trying not to cause her anymore pain, and for that she was grateful. But as she watched, Hera became increasingly aware of how her heart seemed to beat just a little faster. She wanted to ignore it, as she had when her worry for him wouldn’t go away, but she couldn’t. Because as much as she hated to admit it, she knew she couldn’t deny it. That she liked Kanan. More than a crew member, and more than a friend. After he applied some bacta and wrapped up her arm, he gave her his trademark smile, and Hera felt herself smiling back. So maybe he was still a mystery. She didn’t know everything about him, but then again, he didn’t know everything about her either. They each had their secrets. Maybe one day they would share them with each other, or maybe they wouldn’t. And that was okay. Because despite not knowing everything about him, Hera still trusted him. And maybe, just maybe, she could give him a chance to become something more than just her crew.


End file.
